The Blade of Hell
by AnnDarkwater92
Summary: The Hessian has been betrayed by the person he trusted. As a result he's been accused of betreyal and beheaded. Three years after his teath he returns as undead to avenge his death. Several years later a girl appear in the town. She's the key and the only chance to escepe from hell but you shouldn't trust the Hell Lord...


_"Fiat iustitia et pereat mundus. "_

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor~

_"__A__ll small towns have their secrets and stories _

_but none such as Sleepy Hollow whose legends are most grim and gory._

_By day a quaint village full of sunshine and banter,_

_by night a place haunted by hoof beats and spectral laughter._

_The villager's wisper of Hessian and horse that nightly raise:_

_headless the Horseman mounts his faithful steed and off they canter on their nightly deed._

_Ceaselessly for his head he searches while the townfolk for his tortured life he curses._

_Beware lest you cross his path and call upon your head his wrath._

_For it is your head he will claim as his prize _

_and where you stand you will meet your demise!"_

The poem from the gameMystery Legends: Sleepy Hollow

Chapter 1

_Sleepy Hollow , Halloween Night A.D 1786_

The villagers of Sleepy Hollow started to gather on square where the executioner was waiting for jailbird already. Soon they saw handcuffed tall and slim man who wore the fine black military uniform with golden ornaments and a yellow cloth wrapped round waist. A seathed sabre hung from his left side. The herald stepped out and started to read the accussation when he's finished he turned to the man and asked, " Is there anything you'd want to be done for you after your execution?". The solider looked in direction of young woman who wore fine green gown. The woman noticed and turned her gaze away . "No..." , he muttered underneth his breath. The herald nodded at priest but before he could start to pray for his soul a cold deep voice iterrupted, " I haven't finished yet". He growled. "You said..", the man stopped as he met hessians gaze , there was something about him what made people shiver in fear when he was angered. " I know what I said ! What I wanted to say was ' No , however I would like to say something ' ". After a little hesitation the herald refused. The executioner walked up and tried to force him to kneel but the Hessian resisted. " This isn't over , you hear me?! This isn't over! I shall have my revenge upon you and that bitch daughter of yours! Three years since ..." He stopped as the executioner finally managed to force him to kneel. Then he drew the sword from seath and when he was about to strike he froze and looked in direction of old soilder whom daughter was threatened. The old man nodded and the executioner preformed the execution. The head rolled and stopped right beneath retired soilder's daughter. It's dull eyes looked at her with rage. Dorothy McCane grimaced and kicked it with disgust. Her father looked at her with amusment " There's no need of being afraid of the dead ." Dorothy looked at still bleeding neck of the executed." I know, but it doesn't change the fact it's gross." Her face twisted with disgust. Arthur McCane turned to face the executioner and placed a hand upon his shoulder. " No, leave the head". The man looked at old man with fear in his eyes " General, are you sure? We should respect the dead." At that general only waved his hand." He was a common war criminalist, he didn't diserve any respect, Rohn." Rohn looked at him suspiciously " But didn't he helped us build the town? Isn't that enough?" General McCane grimaced and said only " Just bag the head." Rohn sighed and did as he said. This time general's daugter spoke. " Father, do you really need a head of his"? Her gaze filled withfear." Don't worry my dear, I'm not taking it home." He replied while watching Rohn bagging the head. She frowned. " Then why do you want to take it with you." But he didn't replied. He simply took the head with him and walked off...

_Halloween Night, A.D 1789_

" And so that's how the evil Hessian ended up..." The grandsons of General Arthur McCane looked at him with admiration. Jackob, the youngest of the two, spoke " Mom, did grandpa really faced the Hessian?" But Aron, the oldest one, was first to reply " Of course he did! Our grandpa is a hero!" And then Aron looked at General with pride in his eyes. " I will be as brave as you, grandpa! I swear!" His gradfather laughed at that." Of course you will, I expect nothing less from my grandsons." Then he gave the two of them a warm smile. Dorothy, who was sitting by a fireplace smiled at the three of them, but it was a worried smile. She was dressed in a red gown tonight , a red ruby golden neckle decorated her throat. Her emerald eyes watched her father carefully. " I'm going to make us some tea, I'll be right back." Her father gave her a tired look but said nothing. She left the living room and walked toward the kitchen. Since Hessian's execution her father seized his vast fortune and thanks to it they lived a comfortable life ever since. It's been three years since his death and now she regretted her foolish decision of dobbing him to her father. His death didn't eased her pain but deepened it. She looked out through the kitchen window. The weather was awful, it was windy and rainy . Suddenly she noticed a person approaching their maison in hurry, she hurried to the living room." Father, some man is approaching our house, he seems to be in a hurry." Her father looked at her." Aron, Jackob go upstairs and don't leave the room until I tell you to do so." Boys started to protest " But..." This time it was Dorothy who spoke. " But that's it. Do as your grandpa tells you to do so." Both of them went upstairs with a very unhappy expressions and the knocking echoed the same moment when boys closed the door. General McCane got up and opened the front door. " Father John! What a surprise, please come in"! Father John was town's priest. He was about sixty-years-old. He had blue eyes , hooked nose and white hair. The priest entered the room in hurry. " Please, have a seat." But the guest only shook his head." He's coming..." Arthur blinked and replied." What"? John looked grimaced but repeated " He's coming... HE returned, just as he said! He's... He's... come to the town horseback and started to chopping citizen's heads off! What's more important he's making his way toward your house!" A pair of strong arms shook him " John calm down and tell me..." Just then they heard a hoof beats and horse snorting and then the footsteps that stopped right in front door. " Quick, lock the door, no questions!" Dorothy looked at her father doubtfully. Did the old priest go totally mad? But her father only nodded. She hurried to the door and locked it up. For a second nothing happened. Suddenly something walked past the front window, it moved too quick to be certain but she was almost certain she saw the familiar black and gold uniform. " Oh my God...Father, go for children!" She exclaimed. Father John looked at her in horror " Your children are upstairs?" but before she could answer a sound of braking glass echoed. " He's upstairs! Dad you gave to do something or he'll slain them!" Arthur McCane opened his mouth but before he could say anything a spine-chilling scream echoed. The three of them hurried upstairs only to find forced door of children room. Jackob was running through the hall, screaming " Mom!" He fell into his mother's arms and still weeping continued, " There's a body... It walks! And it decapitated Aron!..." And then she saw it: a dead body dressed in black uniform with golden ornaments and a dirty yellow cloth wrapped 'round its waist. Dorothy and her father stood there in shock. In its left hand the body held Aron's head and in the right it held a blood stained sabre. General Aron was first to regain composure, " Father, take my family somewhere safe. I'll slow him down." His daughter started to protest but he pushed her toward the priest " Go..." Before she could do anything the priest took her hand and started to run. General's attention was now back to the figure in front of him, again. " So you have at least a little honor left... Horseman, huh?" The Horseman swung his sabre in response. And all of sudden Aron's head grinned as it responded, " You can make your beloved daughter run. But can she run forever? I will find and slain her eventually." The old man stood there dumbfounded with his sabre unsheathed. It was the same voice that was threatening his family three years ago. The Horseman threw boy's head away and rushed toward his enemy. Well, he was rather walking in McCrane's direction than rushing, but his moves were sharp and aggressive. The two sabers clung, while the two parried the air started to fill with a strange sensation. At first the man sensed anger emanating from the corpse but now it was mixed with some other one. Could it be... amusement? " You find it pretty funny you son of a bitch, don't you?" He mumbled rather to himself than to his enemy. Soon he found himself sweating and panting, he knew the time was near. How much time has passed since their escape? An hour? A half an hour? He didn't know, but he was sure they reached the town already. By the time the Hessian managed to disarm him. McCane looked at the corpse standing in front of him with calm expression. Somehow he knew he would pay for his crimes eventually. He closed his eyes, the last thing he heard was the sound of sabre swinging...

The head of General Arthur McCrane rolled on the floor. He stopped it with his right foot and crushed it. Then he turned toward child's head to pick it up. After that he left the house. In the front yard his black stallion was waiting for him. The horse snorted impatiently. The Horseman stroked stallion's neck and mounted it. He forced Dauntless into a gallop and directed him to the town. All of the sudden he stopped the horse in front of a villager whom he decapitated before. Crows were feasting over unfortunate man's body already. The birds stopped eating as he got closer, now they were observing him carefully. His attention was drew by a dead crow lying nearby. He dismounted Dauntless and reached for the dead bird. Then he walked up to the one of the bags, carried by stallion, and drew a green glowing powder. He dropped a few doses onto the bird. After a few seconds the crow started to move, it's appearance changed at instant. Now its beak was slightly hooked and its talons were as big as eagle's. There was a dull green glow was surrounding its body and its eyes were the color of fire. But the bird wasn't immortal, not in a way he was, now bird's lifespan was unlimited but it still could be killed by a bullet or an arrow. He hoped its look was enough to scare people away. The resurrected crow was on its feet already and was glaring at him, tilting his head from side to side.

~_ Find them and report back to me.~_ The vision of the woman and the child flashed through bird's mind as his master spoke to him mentally~_ Be sure to return before the down.~_

The Crow squawked in respond and took off into the night sky. All he had to do now was wait...

Father John was sitting behind his desk. His expression was clouded, " Tell me, what crime did your family committed, that it made Hessian return from its grave?" Dorothy shook her head, her golden hair were now damp from the rain." I don't know, I honestly have no idea..." John raised an eyebrow " Really? Because when you saw the corpse holding your son's head you seemed more shocked by who's body was it than what it held." That's what she hated about old priest, he was old but you couldn't deceive him as easily as the rest of a townsfolk. She shifted on the wooden chair. " What are you implying, father? If I knew what's going on, I would defiantly tell you." That was a lie, of course, but she couldn't tell him the truth. If townsfolk found out, God knows what would they did to her. John narrowed his eyes as if he hoped to read girl's thoughts. All of sudden Jackob exclaimed " Mother, Father John... Come here, quickly!" Both of them approached the window, through which the boy was watching the outside world. At first they didn't noticed anything extraordinary, that is until the boy didn't pointed at white wooden fence, that surrounded the church. " Look, what a strange bird!" There was the crow sitting on the fence, a strange green glow was emanating from its body and eyes that were a color of a fire glowed in the darkness. " I have never seen such a bird." Said she. " Me either, clearly our deceased friend is using this one as some sort of hound. It will be better if you stay at my chamber till dawn." Though his voice was calm everything was screaming in him to throw them out, so that the demonic raider would leave him alone. " Come Jackob, the bird will be gone eventually." As his mother spoke those words the hellish bird took off into the night sky. After a while it disappeared in darkness. There was a long silence as it left. The boy spoke first " Father, did you noticed its talons? They were ENORMOUS!" John gave the boy a faint smile, " Yes, I did. You have a keen eye, boy..." Just then the hoof beats echoed the outside of the church. The three of them hurried toward the window. " Oh no!..." But the priest only smiled " Wait my dear, watch." The horse stopped abruptly and pranced. The body mounting it raised slightly in the saddle. Even if the raider was headless, it was clear he was looking directly at the window. This time priest smiled at hellish raider mockingly " You cannot enter the sacred ground, demon". Suddenly a spectral laughter echoed. Could it be even possible? Could the raider hear him? And then, still laughing, he turned the horse around and disappeared. " What was so funny to him?" Asked the woman, but priest only shook his head " I have no idea, but you better watch out tonight."

Jackob woke up with a gasp. He couldn't sleep tonight, every time he closed his eyes he found himself being chased by the spectral laughter and hoof beats. In his dream he always rushed towards the church but then the crow attacks and blind him. He looked around the room. It was still dark. Then he noticed the opened window. He frowned, he didn't recall opening the window. And then he saw a hellish bird sitting on a chair. He immediately jumped out of the window, the bird followed his steps. He stepped back and the crow mad one step forward. It tilted its head to the side and all of sudden it squawked, it was a long spine-chilling sound. The boy couldn't take it anymore, he had to get out of here as soon as possible. He opened the door and started to run toward backyard door. By the time John was making sure that his guests didn't left the church. He noticed Doroty's son running blindly toward backyard door. Screaming something about hellish bird. The priest tried to catch him by arm but he failed and, as a result, he had fallen. John opened the door and run out he didn't stopped until he left the protectively area of church. He stopped in the middle of the glade. Just then a hoof beats sounded. At the same time Dorothy appeared in the entrance and, before Father John could stop her, she ran toward her son. But it was too late, the decapitated body fell on the ground. When she realized it was a trap , she started to run back to the church yard. She nearly managed to escape but then a cursed crow attacked, blinding her. She fell down, screamed in pain. She frozen as heard horse stopping by, the last thing she heard was the sound of swinging sabre.

Father John watched in horror as the cursed raider beheaded the blinded woman. He then bagged both skulls. When he was about to leave he moved slightly in the saddle, as if he was looking at him over his left shoulder and let out a horrifying mocking laugh. He forced his horse into gallop and disappeared in darkness of the Sleepy Hollow's wood, right before the first sunlight of the down fell on the ground. Then he noticed a bloody writing by Dorothy's body. He walked up to read it. It said, _Shelter your young and your old, the time has come! You will pay the final sum! Beware of the darkness of the night for the time of justice has come!_ He looked numbly at dark forest. What crime did the McCrane's family committed? Or more accurately, what did the whole town did, that make him return back on earth from afterlife? He shivered as he realized the previous priest of Sleepy Hollow obviously didn't tell him everything. Now it seemed that he'll have to pay for the crime he didn't committed...


End file.
